


ruled his world.

by onlyeli



Series: danganronpa studies. [3]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Another Episode
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Boss Battle, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Lowercase, he's the hero!!, if i dont care about these characters who will, please use discretion masaru's life sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 12:26:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19768168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlyeli/pseuds/onlyeli
Summary: a warrior, a hero, a leader, but mostly just a boy.





	ruled his world.

‘what? you can’t tell just by looking? these guys are the demons i’ve hunted down!’

the hero spreads his arms in a ‘v’, savouring the screams of his adoring crowd. he payed attention when they taught him about ancient rome. he imagines the italian sun beating down on his empire, baking the decaying bodies in the heat, casting him in fantastic light. give him his laurel crown and his imperial sword: masaru caesar, emperor of towa. not a king or a tyrant, but a benevolent leader that loves his people, that builds straight roads to a future without fear. 

two silly girly demons won’t stand in the way of his city. they may try, but they will die doing so, and join the pile of the dead beneath his feet. it will be a shame to break the combo, but two girls will no doubt be lost amongst the sea of men masaru had cut down and built up. he’ll just leave them at the bottom, like the flavour of sweet he likes least. they will turn to sludge in the pools of maroon collecting in the dirt, and he will forget their names, and paradise will draw ever-closer.

they don’t seem impressed. ‘how ‘bout it?’ he crows, jumping up and down in his glee, ‘it’s worth one trillion brazillion points!’ because this, like everything else, has been turned into a game to hold his interest. the leader wins everything (rock paper scissors, fights for territory, footraces, hunting games), and this is no exception! 

their green-tinted skin and unabashed horror annoys and upsets him. he’s sick of having his efforts overlooked! if they want to cry and howl, he’ll give them something to cry about! ‘just because they gave birth to us and raised us, they thought they could control us all!’ he turns to his peers, the children, mouth open and grimacing, arms spread wide, encompassing, welcoming. ‘as hero,’ he proclaims, reminds them all exactly who they have to thank, ‘i hunted them down and let everyone go free!’

masaru folds his arms in defiance, chin jutted. they haven’t caught him doing anything wrong. demons are demons, and violence is violence, and some things need to be done. some adults need to die. the kids chant for him, love him, need him. ‘now, now,’ he giggles, waving the crowd down from their frenzy, ‘don’t praise me too much.’ he is a humble emperor, after all. ‘i just did what any good leader would do…’ and he is a good leader. the best! he might not be smart like nagisa or cutesy like kotoko, but he knows how to get things done. he’ll do anything to fix what he needs to fix. they don’t get to protest his position, because he won it, fair and square. 

as a good leader, he understands the concept of sacrifice. he and the others, they know how this needs to end. ‘i made a promise with the warriors of hope,’ that rabble-roused group they are, the shoddy little party they’ve become, ‘if i’m gonna turn into a dirty, mean, ugly, smelly demon, i’d rather die as a kid!’ 

rather die than lose his fight. rather die than see himself change. rather die than outgrow his jersey. rather die than become so cruel.

they cheer. they love him so, so much.

‘you see? you can hear it, right?’ they need to. they have to know the extent of his reach before they die. he is powerful, and he is worthy, and he is in control. he is in control! ‘everyone loves me… they appreciate me… because i’m their hero.’ and they’d needed one, because towa city is a place of fear. because towa city is a breeding ground for hatred. because towa city is his playground, now, not theirs. because his first order as leader was to tear apart a corner store that mattered to no one but him. because he killed the one that wronged him, and everything felt lighter. 

the one that wronged him was dead. still, masaru hunts. still, he doesn’t feel better. the world isn’t better.

‘if i… hunt down every single demon, then nobody has to be afraid anymore.’ children don’t deserve to cower. children don’t deserve to cry. children are the future, and masaru needs the future, and he needs the children, and they need a hero, and ‘they won’t need to be afraid of the violence, and the pain!’ his voice breaks and ‘w-won’t have to… afraid…’ he needs to keep talking because if he stops, he’s scared he ‘i-i won’t be afraid, i’m not… scared! at all!’ might start to cry and ‘i don’t have to be scared of the dark,’ crying makes it worse and ‘the pain, and the alcohol smell… not anymore!’ the door will slam and the glass will smash and he’s going to hurt, hurt, hurt ‘not anymore! no matter how much you beat me,’ you stupid big girls, you stupid vicious bullies ‘i won’t be afraid anymore! you hear me?’ 

oh, they hear him alright. they hear him sob, tears streaming down his face. in the imaginary italian sun, they boil, turn to mist. in towa city, they fall.

‘not going to be… afraid…’ 

the tension that means the trembling begins, as always, in his longest fingers. he pulls his left arm from where it had been viced (protectively over his head), stares at the callous and filthy palm as it shakes and wavers. this is weakness. right here, this! this is what he needs to destroy before it destroys him and his plan and his city and his people and his italy and his hope and – (and all of his games are messy, blurring, wrong!) he’s getting mixed up.

‘yeah, th-that’s weird,’ he mumbles, still smiling at his public. they wave their fists in the air, thumbs tucked firmly in. 

the first blow never hurts. adrenaline never catches up to him until he’s too deep to turn back (like when he ran, ran, ran for a full day and still couldn’t collapse). his arm keeps shaking. that deserves another! he strikes again, again, harder, snarling at himself, at the defiance in his own body. he understands hatred. he understands humiliation. he understands his father. 

he falls to his knees and pins his fear against the floor, slams it into submission over and over and over until it learns its lesson(!), until it learns how embarrassed he is(!), until it learns to never make a fool of him like this again(!). ‘a hero isn’t afraid of anything! a hero isn’t afraid of dying,’ in a locked closet padded with filthy clothes to drown out his crying, ‘of killing,’ of how long it takes for a body to stop squirming, for those that recognise him to stop looking so sad, ‘nothing! so just stop it! stop shaking!’ 

eventually, it goes numb, more blue than it is flesh. eventually, he stops, breathing hard, ready to play. eventually, he starts to cackle. eventually, he always wins. 

‘it… finally listened to me,’ he tells them, the implication being you will, too. the limb hangs limp, unmovable, practically dead. the feeling will creep back in, soon, and when it does, the real game can finally begin!

his fighter lands in the killosseum, defence and attack maxed. he holds the controller lop-sided, favouring his strongest hand. the other, still purple and swollen, twitches. ‘watch me, everyone!’ he throws up his good arm, commands their attention, their adoration, all for himself! ‘the leader of the warriors of hope! the hero!’ he needs them to know. he needs them to agree. ‘i am gonna defeat these wienerless demons in no time!’ they love him! they need him! he can’t lose! 

the emperor makes his decision. 

thumbs down.

**Author's Note:**

> if i don't care about the sporty redheads who will!! masaru is my favourite warrior of hope and i wanted to try and do something a little different to my other studies here. feedback is appreciated and requests are welcomed! thank you sm for reading <3


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